Fabrication and abrasive wear behavior of ZrO2-SiC-Al2O3 ceramic

In this paper, ZrO2-SiC-Al2O3 ceramic was fabricated by as-prepared ZrO2-SiC powders and commercial α-Al2O3 powders, sintered at 1450 °C for 1 h. ZrO2-SiC composite powders were synthesized through carbothermal reduction with zircon as raw material and carbon black as the reductant. Through ZrO2-SiC-Al2O3 ceramic mechanical properties measurements it was indicated that this ceramic had excellent properties in both bending strength and hardness. In addition, ZrO2-SiC-Al2O3 ceramic abrasive wear property was measured. ZrO2-SiC-Al2O3 ceramic mass loss increased along with the increase in both wheel rate and applied load. The type of wear particles had an important effect on abrasive wear resistance. ZrO2-SiC-Al2O3 ceramic displayed excellent abrasive wear resistance in bentonite and quartz slurries in comparison with SiC slurry.